Automobile-signal.



1'. c. EIOEBEE.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED APR. I4. 1815. REMNU) AIJGIZ?.191?- Lmgqq. 395mm Se@ EW. ,l

IIIIIIIFIIIII Josnrn: o nonnen, or new Yonex, N. Y.

meines.

Applicationflled April M,

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it'lrnown that l, JOSEPH C. Ronenn, a citizen of the United States,residing'at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York7have invented certain new and useful improvements in Automobile-Signals;and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in theart tof which it V appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to automobile signals and more particularly to amovable unit for attachment upon an automobile to notify the followinrcars as to the course of action being taken by the driver on theautomobile to which the signal is attached.

An object of this invention is to provide a movable signal havingdistinctive indications whichmay be 'manipulatedf byl the driver of anautomobile without removing his hand from the steerin wheel.

A further object of this invention is the improved form of operatingmechanism to be actuated by the arm of the driver of the Cal'.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a swinging androtatable housing to be operated by the driver of the car to display anyone of the several indications on said housing.

A further obyect of this invention is a provision of a swinging housinghaving pointers formed thereon, so that any of said pointers may beexposed to the vision offa following driver.

A further object of this invention is a -provision of indicationsincluding a color an" geometric design which may bc exposed to thevision of the following driver.

- further object of this invention is the provision of a movable signalfor a vehicle, a lever for actuating said signal, and means forautomatically returning said signal to a normal position.

Further objects will be apparent from the following specification,appended claims and drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the elements of this inventiondetached from an automobile,

lfig. 2 is a side elevation of a part thereof,

lig. E a perspective View of the signal Specication of Letters Patent.

ratentec sept. 25, ien 7.

1915, Serial No. 21.406. Renewed August 27, 1917. Serial No. 188,485).

housing showing the remaining sides of the housing and Fig. 4l is a sideelevation of a modified form of'operating lever.

'In the adaptation of a signal to the rear of an automobile, it isdesired to have the signal of compact design to consume a minimum ofspace and the indications thereon of such a nature as to positivelyindicate the action beingv ytalren by the driver of the car equipped w;h this attachment.

In this invention, such features have been considered andthe severalparts comprising the elements of this invention are disclosed in the'drawing in which 10 indicates a bearing which may be placed at anydesired point near the drivers seat and this rbearing is provided uvithears 11 by which said bearing may be attached,l to the frame ofthe car.This bearing supports a shaft 12 which has ahead. 13 formed on the upperend thereof, of which the extensions 14 and 15 form portions thereof. Ayoke 16 is slidably carried by the extension 14 and may be locked in anyposition on the stem 14 as by a thumb screw 17. A trip 18 isslidablycarried by the extension 15 and this trip has one end of a cable19 attached thereto, which passes over a pulley 2O carried by the head13 and then downwardly through the shaft 12 to and about the pulley 21disposed below the lower end of the shaft 12. Thelower end ofl the shaft12 has a crank 22 formed thereon to which one end of a connecting rod 23is' attached- This connecting rod-when in place on the automobile willhave bearings' 23 to support the same at the necessary intervals toprevent undue vibration thereof, and the rear end of this rod terminatesin a rack 24 with. which a pinion 25 meshes.

The pinion 25 is carried by the lower end esl nio

Said shaft also has ing 33 pivoted thereto as by pins passing throughthe ears 34 formed on said housing, to allow said housing being swungfrom a nrmal position to that shown in Fig. 1 of `the drawings. Thehousing and extension 32 are connected as by a coiled spring 35 whichserves to normally return the housing to an upright position as shown inFigs. 2 and 3.

The cable 19, after passing about the pulley 21, passes over thenecessary pulleys 36 and 37`to the pulley 38 after which its course isup through the shaft 26 to the pulley 39 from where it leaves the shaft26 and is connected to the housing 33 as at 40. Manipulation of the trip18 as by the drivers elbow will exert a tension on the cable 19 andthereby tilt the housing 33 to expose the normal top face thereof to therear.

The housing 33 will confine a lighting element 'such as an incandescentlight as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing. Forl dayservice, the several indications will combine colors, pointers andgeometrical designs. The normal top of the housing 33 will comprise atranslucent plate'41 having a circular design 42 formed thereon and anextension 43 from the forward thereof bearing thefword Stop The n ormalrear face of the housing will comprise a translucent plate 44 having anoctagonal design 45 formed thereon. The indication of a course to theleft comprises a translucent plate 46 on .one side of the housing havinga rectangular design 47 formed thereon and a pointer 48 extendin fromthe forward edge of said side and an indication for a course to theright comprises a translucent plate 49 having a diamond 50 formedthereon and a pointer 51 extendin from the forward edge of said side waAs it isdesired to accentuate the several indications, the plate 41 maybe colored red, the plate 44 white, and the late 49 green, so that -whenthe light within the housin is illuminated, as for night usage, the difused light through any one of the side walls, so provided with thetranslucent plate will indicate the course the driver is to take.

As it is desirous of having the parts return to a normal position whennot other-v wise moved, a bearing 62 which may be carried by the body ofthe car may be pro- Ivided for the lower end of the shaft 12 and aspring 62 may extend from this bearing to engage a pin carried by thecrank 22 so that the shaft 12 will assume the normal position. I

A decided benet of this type of signal is that it may be used in thecombination' with the fik/ed tail light usually required edge I for suchvehicles to form a combination of lights of which each combination willhave a'definite meaning as the tail light will disclose a constantcolor, with which the color disclosed by the signal may formthe'combination.

. Fig. 4 shows a slight modification inthe operating a'rrn in which theshaft 52 is supported by the bearing 53 and has a head 54 formed thereonto which the'arm 55 is pivoted as at 56. This arm supports the arm rest57 which may be swung to the position shown in dotted lines for anydesired reason, such as to facilitate the drivers dism'ount ing from thecar. A lever 58 is pivoted as at 59 to the shaft 52and has a spring 60to normally hold it in vertical position. This :ever extends in the pathof the drivers elbow so that rearward movement of his arm will actuatethe lever and tilt ythe housing 33 through the agency of the cable 61which is attached to said lever and which passes over the necessarypulleys to change the course of travel of said cable as desired.

Having thus described .my invention, lI claim 1. In a signal, a movablearm, a yoke carried by said arm to receive an operators arm, a slidealso carried by the arm to receive movement from an operators elbow, arotatable housing, said housing'being fulcrumed to tilt and connectionsfrom said yoke and slide to said housing to rotate or tilt the same. v

2. In a signal of the class described,-a housing, an illuminatingelement in said housing, translucent side walls for said housing, saidhousing being rotatable to present certain ofthe side walls to view,said housing being fulcrumed to present the normal top as a side wall,pointers extendin presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH c. REBER.

Witnesses:

HENRY F. RQEBER, Grenen L. THoM.

